The Helix Midnight and Purple mattresses are both bed-in-a-box models with good bounce and mobility. But beyond these similarities, they’re also distinct in several notable ways, featuring unique constructions and feels best-suited to different types of sleepers. That could be useful, because it means one of these beds is likely to be the clear choice for you.
In this Helix vs Purple mattress comparison, I’ll put these beds through a variety of tests to determine how they perform in categories such as cooling, pressure relief, motion transfer, and more. We’ll also take a peek inside the mattresses and discuss their feel, durability, and brand policies.
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Helix Midnight vs Purple
Product
Firmness
Score
Helix Midnight vs Purple
Product
Helix Midnight MattressFirmness
Medium-firm: 6.5/10Score
| Helix Midnight is best for… | Purple is best for… |
| All sleeping positions | Hot sleepers |
| Budget shoppers | Couples |
| Joint pain | Combination sleepers |
Helix vs Purple Video Review
Helix vs Purple: Top Similarities
- Shipping: Helix and Purple both offer free shipping on all mattresses.
- Pressure relief: Both mattresses offer great pressure relief and pain relief.
- Cooling: Both mattresses are suitable for hot sleepers.
Helix vs Purple: Top Differences
- Construction: The Helix Midnight is a hybrid mattress made with foams and coils. The Purple is an all-foam mattress with an elastic polymer grid.
- Firmness: The Purple is just a touch firmer than the Helix Midnight.
- Motion isolation: The Purple mattress has better motion isolation than the Helix Midnight.
Helix vs Purple: Construction & Feel Differences
Now that you know the main similarities and differences, let’s discuss how the Helix Midnight and Purple actually feel. To do this, I’ll test these mattresses for different feel factors, such as firmness, pressure relief, bounce, and sinkage.
Before we start, it’s important to note that all of these factors are inherently subjective, and they can change a lot depending on one’s body size, shape, and weight.
What’s the Firmness Difference?
A mattress’s firmness can feel very different to different sleepers. For example, lightweight sleepers are more likely to experience mattresses as firmer since they won’t sink in as much. Because of this disparity, I always test each mattress with a handful of colleagues, all of whom are Certified Sleep Science Coaches. We each score the mattress from 1 to 10, where 1 is the softest and 10 is the firmest. A score of 6.5 out of 10 marks a true medium-firm mattress. I then average our scores to create our overall firmness rating.
The Helix Midnight has a true medium-firm feel, falling at a 6.5 on our mattress firmness scale. Medium-firm mattresses are great for a variety of sleeper types, so they’re a safe option for couples with different preferred sleeping positions. This hybrid mattress combines soft memory foam layers with supportive coils to create a balanced feel.
The Purple is a touch firmer than the Helix, landing at a 7 out of 10 on the mattress firmness scale. The patented Purple Grid inside the Purple mattress is what makes the bed a bit firmer and adds support.
What Does Each Mattress Feel Like?
Now that you know where these mattresses fall on our firmness scale, let’s discuss how it feels to sleep on them.
The Helix Midnight is constructed with layers of foam and sturdy innerspring coils. I felt a bit of sinkage from the top layers, but the coils prevented me from sinking in too far and helped keep my body lifted. While there’s not a ton of deep sinkage and body contouring, this mattress did a good job at cradling my hips, shoulders, and lower back and provided some pressure relief. The coils give the bed a bit of bounce, which made it easy to switch between sleeping positions without getting stuck in the foam layers. The Helix Midnight’s medium-firm feel makes it not too soft and not too firm.
The Purple’s feel is dependent on the Purple Grid layer. This bed doesn’t have much sinkage, and I feel more “on” the bed than “in” the bed. I felt like my weight was evenly distributed on this mattress. There was a nice balance of comfort and support. The Hyper-Elastic polymer grid has a waffle-like design that’s super breathable and helped cradle my pressure points. It’s also squishy and stretchy and gives the bed a lot of bounce, which could be great for combination sleepers. Back and stomach sleepers should find some pressure relief, but its lack of sinkage may cause some issues for side sleepers.
How Does The Construction Differ?
Helix vs Purple Per Body Type
As I mentioned before, a mattress feels different to sleepers depending on their body type and preferred sleeping position. Let’s take a look at how the Helix Midnight and Purple may feel for different sleepers.
Helix Midnight
| Body Weight | Side | Back | Stomach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light (under 130lbs) |
good | excellent | good |
| Average (130-250lbs) |
excellent | excellent | good |
| Heavy (over 250lbs) |
good | good | good |
| Body Weight: Light (under 130lbs) | |
|---|---|
| Side Sleeper | good |
| Back Sleeper | excellent |
| Stomach Sleeper | good |
| Body Weight: Average (130-150lbs) | |
| Side Sleeper | excellent |
| Back Sleeper | excellent |
| Stomach Sleeper | good |
| Body Weight: Heavy (over 250lbs) | |
| Side Sleeper | good |
| Back Sleeper | good |
| Stomach Sleeper | good |
Purple
| Body Weight | Side | Back | Stomach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light (under 130lbs) |
excellent | excellent | excellent |
| Average (130-250lbs) |
unpleasant | excellent | unpleasant |
| Heavy (over 250lbs) |
unpleasant | unpleasant | unpleasant |
| Body Weight: Light (under 130lbs) | |
|---|---|
| Side Sleeper | excellent |
| Back Sleeper | excellent |
| Stomach Sleeper | excellent |
| Body Weight: Average (130-150lbs) | |
| Side Sleeper | unpleasant |
| Back Sleeper | excellent |
| Stomach Sleeper | unpleasant |
| Body Weight: Heavy (over 250lbs) | |
| Side Sleeper | unpleasant |
| Back Sleeper | unpleasant |
| Stomach Sleeper | unpleasant |
Helix vs Purple Comparing Mattress Performance
Our team of Certified Sleep Science Coaches put every mattress we review through a series of tests to objectively assess how they perform in areas such as cooling, pressure relief, motion isolation, and more. Read on to learn how the Helix Midnight and Purple performed on our tests.
Temperature
When I assess cooling, I first take a look at the mattress’s construction. While all-foam mattresses tend to trap heat, the Helix Midnight is a hybrid mattress containing breathable coils that allow for plenty of airflow. Upon purchasing the Helix Midnight, you can add the optional GlacioTex cooling cover for an additional cost, which can help this bed sleep even cooler. I next tested this mattress using a thermal gun. After laying on the mattress for 15 minutes, I used the thermal gun to measure how much the mattress heated up. The Helix Midnight only heated up about 5 degrees, which indicates excellent cooling.
The Purple contains a lot of foam, but its polymer grid is super breathable and allows air to flow through the mattress instead of getting trapped. I also used the thermal gun on the Purple to see how much it heated up after laying on it for 15 minutes and found that it only increased by 4.8 degrees. These are excellent results, and I would consider the Purple to be one of the best cooling mattresses.
Motion Isolation
If you share the bed with someone else, you may want a bed with low motion transfer. When a bed has low motion transfer, it isolates movement on one side of the bed and prevents the person on the other side from feeling it. If your partner, pet, or child tends to toss and turn at night, you’ll want a mattress that can isolate their movement and prevent you from being disturbed. All-foam beds are typically the best at absorbing motion, while the bounce from the coils in hybrid and innerspring mattresses makes it harder to hide motion. We test motion transfer using three tests: a human test, a wine test, and a seismometer test.
The human test involves having one of my coworkers move around on one side of the mattress and seeing if I can detect their movement while lying on the other side. On the Helix Midnight, I felt my colleague get in and out of the bed and could feel them moving around a bit. Our wine test involves placing a glass of wine on one side of the mattress and seeing how much the liquid moves if I toss and turn on the other side. I saw a fair amount of movement in the glass, but the glass thankfully did not tip over. The last test, the seismometer test, involves dropping a 10-pound steel ball onto the mattress from gradually increasing heights and using a seismometer to measure the disturbance. As I suspected, the Helix Midnight had pretty high vibrations, which indicates a lack of motion isolation. If you typically sleep soundly, you may not feel disturbed by a partner’s movement. However, light sleepers may want a bed with lower motion transfer.
When performing the human test on the Purple, I couldn’t feel my coworker getting in and out of the bed or rolling around on the other side. I saw a bit of liquid moving in the glass when performing the wine test, but it wasn’t sloshing around enough to be concerning. Finally, the Purple performed well on the seismometer test, and the spikes on the graph weren’t too large. Although the Purple has a bouncier feel, I was impressed by its ability to isolate motion, and I could see this bed being a solid choice for anyone sharing the bed with a partner or pet.
Edge Support
Edge support refers to how sturdy the perimeter of a mattress is. A mattress with strong edge support will feel just as supportive along the edges as it does in the center. This is a plus for anyone who likes to spread out and use the entire surface of the mattress or for couples, as strong edge support can make a mattress feel larger. Strong edge support can also help prevent a mattress from sagging over time.
The Helix Midnight has reinforced edges, and I felt super secure when sitting and laying on its perimeter. I didn’t feel at risk of falling off the bed at all. I would say the Helix Midnight has great edge support.
Unfortunately, I was unimpressed with the Purple’s edge support. There was quite a bit of sinkage when sitting on the edges, and I could feel the layers of foam collapsing under my weight.
Pressure Relief
We test pressure relief using a specialized mat that we roll onto each mattress and then lay down on. The mat is able to sense pressure and translate the results into a graphic, called a pressure map, using thermal imaging. Areas showing blue and green indicate low pressure, and areas showing yellow and red indicate high pressure.
Looking at the Helix Midnight’s pressure map, we’re seeing mostly blue and green, which indicates that this mattress did a nice job at cushioning my joints and preventing pressure from building up. I see a bit of yellow at the lower back, but this isn’t too concerning considering the blue and green surrounding it.
I was very impressed with the Purple’s pressure map – just look at all that blue. This shows me that the Purple mattress does a great job at relieving pressure and could be a solid choice for people seeking a mattress with good pressure relief.
Pain Relief
A mattress’s ability to relieve pressure can be directly tied to its ability to relieve pain. If there’s not a lot of pressure building in a specific area, you’re unlikely to develop pain there over time.
I think the Helix Midnight does a great job at relieving pain in the back, hips, and shoulders. The blue and green on the pressure map show that the mattress is able to cradle these areas and provide relief for preexisting pain, and prevent new pain from developing.
I also really like the Purple mattress for people experiencing pain in the back, hips, and shoulders. There’s pretty much zero pressure building due to the grid layer’s ability to cradle every area of the body. I think you’re very unlikely to develop new aches and pains from sleeping on this mattress.
Durability
We can determine a mattress’s durability by looking at the materials it’s made with and examining their quality. Edge support can also be an indicator of whether or not the mattress is prone to sagging over time. Lastly, we can take a glance at the mattress warranty, which can tell us the brand’s confidence in the bed’s ability to withstand the test of time.
I would consider the Helix Midnight to be a durable mattress. Its materials are very high-quality and its strong edge support means it’s unlikely to sag prematurely. This mattress comes with a 10-year warranty, which isn’t a forever guarantee but is still pretty good.
I think the Purple is pretty durable, but it may not be the most durable mattress on the market. Its foams are less dense and the flexible grid puts gaps in its construction. The lack of edge support makes me worried that this bed is prone to premature sagging. The Purple has a 10-year warranty, which is, again, a decent warranty but means it may not last a lifetime.
Company Policies
The fine print surrounding a potential mattress could help you determine if it’s right for you. The company’s customer service skills can also play a large role in your buying experience. Check out the Helix and Purple policies below and how I rated their customer service. Possible scores include stellar, great, satisfactory, and poor.
Helix Policies
- Trial Period – 100-night sleep trial
- Shipping – Free
- Mattress Warranty– 10-year warranty
Purple Policies
- Trial Period – 100-night sleep trial
- Shipping – Free
- Mattress Warranty – 10-year warranty
Helix Sleepopolis Customer Service Rating
- Great: I was impressed with Helix’s customer support chat feature on its website. It was easy to navigate and provided me with a detailed list of FAQs. I was also given the option to request a Helix customer service representative and chat live with them, or I could contact Helix via email, phone call, and text.
Purple Sleepopolis Customer Service Rating
- Great: I found the chat feature on Purple’s website very user-friendly, and the responses I received were detailed and friendly. Purple also has a phone number listed on its website, so you can talk through questions and issues with a Purple representative.
Comparing Helix vs Purple Price
Price is certainly an important factor when choosing a new mattress. Below you’ll find a pricing chart for each size of both mattresses. Be sure to check out our Helix coupon page and Purple coupon page for the latest coupon codes and promotions.
Prices listed are before discount or offer for each size.
| Size | Helix | Purple |
|---|---|---|
| Twin | $699 | $599 |
| Twin XL | $799 | $799 |
| Full | $849 | $999 |
| Queen | $1,099 | $1,149 |
| King | $1,449 | $1,449 |
| Cal King | $1,449 | $1,449 |
Helix Midnight vs Purple
Product
Firmness
Score
Helix Midnight vs Purple
Product
Helix Midnight MattressFirmness
Medium-firm: 6.5/10Score
Other Helix and Saatva Mattress Comparisons
Now that we’ve finished this mattress comparison, check out how the Helix and Purple compare to popular models from other online mattress brands.
Helix
Purple
- Casper vs Purple
- Purple vs Puffy
- Leesa vs Purple
- Purple vs Tempurpedic
- Layla vs Purple
- DreamCloud vs Purple
- Nectar vs Purple
Comparing Other Mattress Models
Helix and Purple both offer a variety of mattress models that you may be interested in. Let’s take a quick look at them here.
Helix vs Purple Frequently Asked Questions
How do the Helix and Purple mattresses ship?
Both brands offer free shipping on all mattresses.
Are the Helix Midnight and Purple mattresses good for hot sleepers?
I would consider both mattresses good options for anyone prone to overheating at night. The Helix Midnight is constructed with breathable coils, and it sleeps even cooler if you opt for the GlacioTex cooling cover. The Purple grid is also very breathable and helps this mattress sleep cool.
Is the Purple firmer than the Helix Midnight?
Yes, the Purple is slightly firmer than the Helix Midnight.
What are the return policies for the Helix Midnight and Purple?
You can return the Helix Midnight 30 days after delivery and before the 100-night trial period ends. You can return the Purple mattress 21 days after delivery and before the 100-night trial period ends.
As we wrap up this comparison, I’d like to highlight my favorite things about the Nectar mattress as well as some of my complaints.
As we finish this comparison, I’ll leave you with what I like most about the Nectar and point out some of my complaints.
Our Review Process
Our Sleepopolis reviewers personally test each mattress. We start by unboxing the mattress to figure out how difficult (or easy) it is to get the mattress from the box to the bed. Then, we spend time laying on the bed in different positions, taking time to assess it on our backs, stomachs, and sides. Next, we perform our Sleepopolis tests, using specialized tools to measure qualities like motion transfer, bounce, and pressure relief. Our last step is to open up the mattress and take a look at each layer. These steps allow us to give our final verdict on the mattress. Jump back to our mattress picks.
